Following the launch of a couple of more GK104-based SKUs, namely GeForce GTX 670 Ti, and GeForce GTX 670, some time in May; NVIDIA will launch its third (after GK104 and GK107) Kepler architecture-based silicon, codenamed GK106. GK106 will make up sub-$200 SKUs, and succeeds the GF116, on which SKUs such as the GeForce GTX 550 Ti, are based. The GK106 will make up at least one known desktop SKU, called GeForce GTX 660.

There was a news post recently stating AMD had no plans of dropping prices on their current offerings, probably hoping to lure people in and make some extra money on people who don't want to wait for GTX680 Availability to improve.

It shows the 7970 as being around 450 with the GTX680 being about 500.

by: xenocideThere was a news post recently stating AMD had no plans of dropping prices on their current offerings, probably hoping to lure people in and make some extra money on people who don't want to wait for GTX680 Availability to improve.

It shows the 7970 as being around 450 with the GTX680 being about 500.

Right but that's for while the availability isn't there, maybe they think prices will drop by then? Lol.

Wait a min here the projections of the performance being 560ti/6950 makes a hole. A BIG hole that is between the 680 and the "670 ti" were the 7870 and the 7950 hell even the 7970 fill that gap. That's a bit strange, don't ya think?

looking forward to the 660, mostly since it'll probably lower the prices of GTX560Ti. Though at 130w a 660 would be doable with my current power supply (barely... probably too close to chance it really)

It depends on if you're a geek or someone whom gets their info from stock reviews. nVIDIA is ingeniously counting on the later with kepler.

Like I said in a previous post, I expect this to be paired against the 7850 and beat it at stock. While 7850 may be more architecturally sound with 15-33% more resources on paper, we're again talking a part that will be clocked in the neighborhood of 25% higher on average. When the equivalent of 896 shaders takes on 1024 at 25% higher clock and the limiting factor is most-often shader performance on these configurations, that makes a difference. When 64 texture units take on 80 at 25% higher clock, that's pretty much a tie. When 24 ROPs (with better raster performance) take on 32 ROPs when neither needs that many...it doesnt particularly matter.

Also, according to how I calculate average bandwidth requirements (by bottlenecks on past products) 5ghz on a 192-bit bus fits 680 clocks perfectly...in theory it should be more efficient in that regard than 680 at stock. Memory bandwidth for Pitcairn OTOH is obviously built around the clocks/configuration of 7870 (which is also perfectly matched). It may help 7850 on some occasions, but not to any large degree.

Then you have overclocking...which on 7850 is a complete PITA. The vbios limits it to 1050mhz on pretty much every model (granted ASUS has a work-around), most lack voltage control, and even beyond that there is powertune limiting it to 150w.

I don't think it will be a stretch to say, theoretically, a 1200mhz 660 will compete with a 1050mhz 7850. Sure, 7850 can probably do better if you get the right model and/or want to spend the time figuring it out, but I think nvidia will make the process easier. Given what we've seen on 680 and 28nm as a whole, 1200mhz is also a realistic speed to attain (especially on the fully-working chips). So, more-or-less a wash...but it's important to remember reviews are at stock, and what most people use to compare.

What a load of BS, damn it the GTX660 should be taking on the 7870 ffs.....
$350 is too much for a 7870, at $100 less it would be a bit better buy, and now that gtx 660 will compete with 7850, the 7870 won't budge from that price.....

by: N3M3515What a load of BS, damn it the GTX660 should be taking on the 7870 ffs.....

Yeah, but it can't. I said it on a GTX680 thread, the GTX660 does not stand a chance to compete directly in that segment. That's what happens when the performance part becomes the high-end card. The one that was going to be the lower mainstream has to take the performance spot and since it is 1/2 of the performance part instead of 3/4 or 2/3 (like Pitcairn), it's going to be nearly imposible, unless the GTX680 is held back by a "bottleneck" somewhere limiting the scaling, similar to HD79xx vs HD78xx, in which case it might land closer to HD7870 (never ever faster in my mind). But chances are slim for GTX660.

Nvidia will probably use some pressure from the top with the GTX670 (i.e loosely beating HD7870 for $300) and hopefully price the GTX660 well below $250 while being cosmetically faster than HD7850. In the end this GTX550 replacement card was probably meant to be sold at $150.

PS: IMO like in the GF106 the 192 bit memory interface is a dumb idea. 128 bit would suffice for what is otherwise half the chip and the extra 64 bit channel will probably do nothing but make it much larger.

by: N3M3515What a load of BS, damn it the GTX660 should be taking on the 7870 ffs.....
$350 is too much for a 7870, at $100 less it would be a bit better buy, and now that gtx 660 will compete with 7850, the 7870 won't budge from that price.....

yeah Nvidia is going to force AMD to drop prices on the 7870 if the GTX670ti comes out to be about as fast as the 7950 for the rumored 350-399 price tag.

by: N3M3515What a load of BS, damn it the GTX660 should be taking on the 7870 ffs.....
$350 is too much for a 7870, at $100 less it would be a bit better buy, and now that gtx 660 will compete with 7850, the 7870 won't budge from that price.....

Hold your horses guys... nothing is being said about the 660TI WHICH I SUSPECT will actually be a GK 104. There was a small review last month that suspected the 660TI will be at @826 shaders and that it will price out at @$319.00. Infact that review had a complete list of all suspected models in the 600 line including the 640, 650, 650Ti, 660, 660 TI etc etc. I'll try to find the review later. I put it in the main GTX 680 thread if you want to search through my posts starting around page 8 or so. I believe THAT GK104 is the 660 TI we are all waiting for but not heard squat about since the GTX680. Also, there were early rumors of a GK104 660ti before the GTX680 was released and I still believe that's up Nvidia's sleeve. I also believe it will come out closer to when AMD tries newer models.